Indigenous Paiwan tribe’s baby naming ceremony

According to traditional Paiwan (排灣) custom, at birth one must pass through a series of ceremonies in order to get a name, identity and status, and become accepted by society. The Paiwan tribe calls this ceremony ‘kakudan’, which is a way of social customs and habits passed down from their ancestors. After a Paiwan child is born, the time of naming varies from the day of birth, to 4 or 5 days after, when the parents and relatives get together and name the child.

At this time, the family of the newborn child brews wine, bakes cakes and invites the relatives and tribespeople to their home for a banquet. Children are named according to the social class of the family, with male and female names being divided into one of three classes (the noble class, the distinguished class and the commoner class), each having a traditional list of names. Naming is the responsibility of the parents and the chief of the family’s class, who will choose a name according to the child’s social status.

In Paiwan culture, family names are passed down though the generations, and one must follow the ups and down of the name within tribe’s social class system; the name will be changed according to a change of social status, moving home, or through special marriage when a man takes on his wife’s surname. By knowing a Paiwan person’s name, their social status can be immediately determined. Of course, some names are only bestowed upon the chieftain, and so to use such a name, which are of a higher social status than one’s own, the chieftain’s permission must first be granted. 

Indigenous Paiwan tribe’s baby naming ceremony
URL:https://www.peopo.org/news/219919

(以下是中文對照)

原住民排灣族嬰兒命名記

照片

按照習俗，傳統排灣人一生中要經歷一連串的儀式才能成為一個有名字、身分與地位且被社會接納的人。排灣族稱這些儀式為kakudan，意為風俗、習慣、自祖先傳下來的作法。排灣族嬰兒出生後，孩子的命名，其時間不一，早的在出生之日或稍後四、五天，由父母或親族會議命名。其時生子之家釀酒製糕，邀及親戚族人，在家舉行飲宴。排灣族依各家所屬的階級為嬰兒命名，俗習男性與女性之名字皆分為三個階級〈貴族、氏族、佃民〉，各有一套傳統的名錄。命名時由各家之家長與其宗家之族長，依新生嬰孩之階級地位為之選定一名字。排灣人實行家屋連名，家屋是一家一戶的專名，往往隨家族社會地位的浮沉、分戶遷居或入贅等原因而更換。一個排灣族人只要知道他的名字就可以判斷他的階級。當然，有些名字也可由頭目賜予，經過頭目允許後才能使用比自己階級高的名字。